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Passage Oak

THE BOOK: Passage OakPUBLISHED IN: December, 2015

THE AUTHOR: K.M. del Mara

THE EDITOR: K.M. del Mara

THE PUBLISHER: K.M. del Mara

SUMMARY: High above the coast of Cornwall, a remarkable tree dominates the woodland. It stands out because it is the only oak of its type and larger than any other tree. Down the ages, it has served as a landmark for thieves and smugglers, lovers and outlaws.

In the small village below, people have a rather obsessive dread of anything that stands out, that doesn’t fit the mold. They like to keep to themselves and don’t like to see their traditions threatened.

But along comes an Italian and then an Irishman, each escaping religious persecution in his native country. A young woman and a small boy follow, fleeing the French Revolution, plus a stranger running from a charge of murder, and a girl of mixed race sent by mistake from a London orphanage.

Imagine this motley assortment of people seeking to build new lives in one hard-pressed fishing village.

THE BACK STORY: Passage Oak is part of a series of books that deal with some of the ways people respond to war. Do they stand and fight, as portrayed in Whitebeam, set in Scotland in Robert the Bruce’s time? Do they flee for their lives, as a Loyalist family does on the eve of the American Revolution in Willow Oak? Or, as in Passage Oak, do they look for opportunities to profit from the chaos? The struggling fishermen and miners provide a subtext as they try to bring the giving and taking of opportunities into balance.

WHY THIS TITLE?: An ancient oak tree stands as a landmark near a small Cornish fishing village. It not only symbolizes the singular, or the unique, as opposed to the status quo. It is also a metaphor for acceptance and tolerance, as it plays host, throughout its life and beyond, to a vast variety of life forms.

WHY SOMEONE WOULD WANT TO READ IT?: This is historical fiction with more emphasis on story than history, and nearly everyone loves a good story. It is a story that “happens” in an interesting time and place but could have happened anywhere and anywhen. It is more relevant to today’s world than I could have imagined when I began to write it several years ago.

REVIEW COMMENTS:

Amazon reviews for Passage Oak

1-Delmara sets us securely in time and place to experience the struggles that beset strangers in a strange land. The mystery lies at the intersection of those lives where the drive for survival takes on epic proportions. With a tempo that accelerates to the finale, Delmara keeps the reader’s head spinning in ironic twists of fate and the chaos of lives bent on establishing a place in the world.

2-A beautifully written story that takes place in Cornwall in the early 1800’s. Del Mara brings her wonderfully developed characters to life, thoroughly researching the time period and geography and sharing their riveting stories with us.

3-I loved it and couldn’t put it down!AUTHOR PROFILE: I’m also a violinist

AUTHOR COMMENTS: I’d be very grateful if you would post this on your lovely book site.